The Redemption
by The Forgotten Disciple
Summary: Carl has been given a chance to redeem himself of his past sins so he meets Gabriel the Archangel who becomes Carl's new boss. And makes friends with a Jew.
1. The Dead Man

The Dead Man

Carl awoke with a start and looked around him; he was in a room (if that's what you wanted to call it) with two double doors that were 10 times his height, one behind him and one in front of him, apart from that, there was nothing else in the 'room'.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You are in the Judgment Hall," said a voice behind him.

Carl turned around, startled, and saw a man clothed in a white trench coat, white shirt, white jeans and no shoes,

"Who are you?" asked Carl.

"Follow me," said the man, and he went to a desk behind him, Carl could have sworn that desk was not there before. The man pulled out a leather-bound book from his trench coat and opened it and said, "According to the Book of Life, you led a life dedicated to the Lord, but you were tempted to sin and did so on many occasions…"

"What are you…?" Carl started, but the man cut him off,

"Because of your condition of death, the Lord has said that He still has some work left for you to do."

"The Lord?" asked Carl, "You mean God?"

The man just stared at Carl with a look that told Carl the answer, "And I'm…"

"Yes," the man answered.

"But how?" asked Carl, "I can't remember how…who am I?"

"Those questions will be answered in time," said the man, "Do you remember the Bible?"

"Yeah," answered Carl, "In fact, that's all I can remember."

"Good," said the man, "When you wake up, you will be in front of a big building ask for Gabriel, he will help you understand."

"Understand what? Who are you?" asked Carl, but before he got an answer, he was in a deserted street in front of a building which had the sign: LIBRARY OF ANCIENT WORKS, above its door.

The Library reminded Carl of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, "What kind of a guy lives in a place like this?" Carl asked himself, "I'm not going in that building…nope…not going."

Carl opened the huge double doors and was welcomed by an enormous entrance hall. The hall had a circular opening in its ceiling with floors and floors of bookshelves. In front of Carl was a huge marble fireplace and above the fireplace was a painting which was as high as four men standing on top of each other, this painting depicted the Crucifixion of Christ. On the mantle piece was a crucifix (on the right side) and the Mogen Dovid (on the left), "Whoa," said Carl

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said a man behind him.

Carl turned around to see a man dressed in a white suit, "Who are…?" Carl began.

"My name is Gabriel," said the man, "Pleased to meet you.

"Why did that guy tell me to ask for you if you were going to find me anyway?" asked Carl.

"I see you were eyeing that painting," said Gabriel, ignoring the question.

"Yeah," said Carl looking at the painting; it was a very vivid painting which showed blood pouring the wounds on Christ's wrists, feet and side in a very gruesome way, "Yeah you certainly have the…carnage right."

"The carnage does not matter," said Gabriel, "What matters is what the carnage represents…it represents how "through His wounds you are healed".

"Right," said Carl, "What's with the crucifix _and _the Star of David?"

"The crucifix is our sword and the Mogen Dovid is our shield," replied Gabriel.

"Sword and shield against what?" asked Carl.

"Come with me," said Gabriel, "I have to explain some things."


	2. Explanations and Akiva

Explanations and Akiva

"Okay," said Carl, "Let me go over this again, I was murdered and because of this type of death, my time on Earth was ended by a human's hand instead of by the hand of the Lord, then I have been given a chance to redeem myself of my past sins, and therefore I have to work under you and do the missions the Lord sets down for me. Is that about the jist?"

"Yes," said Gabriel.

They were both sitting in armchairs facing the huge fireplace in which burnt a great fire. They had been talking for a whole hour about Carl's life and death and it was now six o'clock in the morning and a bell rang from somewhere in the confines of the building's tower, "My goodness is that the time?" Gabriel said looking at a huge clock set above the Crucifixion of Christ painting, "Akiva will be here soon."

"What's an Akiva?" asked Carl.

"Akiva is a man," said Gabriel, "He works here also, just part-time, but he's a good guy."

With that Gabriel walked off, leaving Carl alone to reflect on his situation, he had a choice now, he could accept this chance and work under Gabriel, eventually earning his way into Heaven or he could run out of this place and get a one-way ticket to Hell. He found his eyes wander over to the Crucifixion of Christ painting and he just stared at his Lord and Savior, hanging from a cross, dying so he could live. Something shiny caught his eye and he looked in its direction and saw a crucifix hanging on a necklace and a Star of David hanging from a necklace, Carl picked up the crucifix and looked at it; a silver image of Christ hanging on it, he put it around his neck. He was about to leave when the Star of David caught his eye again, he picked it up and twirled it around in his hands; Jesus Christ was a descendent of David so…he put it around his neck along with the crucifix necklace and put them both under his shirt and went off in the direction Gabriel had gone.

When he saw Gabriel, Carl saw him talking to a young man (about mid-twenties) about what appeared to be the huge stack of books in the man's hands. The man had black-hair and Carl was a head taller than the man and the man had a Star of David around his neck.

"Ah, Carl," said Gabriel, "This is Carl, Akiva."

"Hi," Akiva said, shaking Carl's hand.

"Carl will be helping around here for a while," Gabriel told Akiva.

"Really," said Akiva, "Thank Heavens. This has been a real tough life hauling books around this humungous Chinese puzzle."

"Hauling books?" Carl asked as he looked at Gabriel.

"For now," said Gabriel, "Now, Akiva, these books to X13."

"I'm not hauling these books to X13," Akiva protested, looking at one of the two piles of books on the table next to the entrance doors.

"All right," said Gabriel, "Carl, take these books to X13 and Akiva take the other pile to Z20."

With that, Gabriel left and went through a small door with OFFICE written above it, "I don't know why I put up with this job," said Akiva and he led Carl up some stairs.


	3. Meeting the Man

Meeting the Man

After hauling the books all the way to X13 and Z20, Carl and Akiva threw themselves onto the chairs next to the fireplace. Carl had found out that Akiva's parents had been killed by unknown forces, when he was nine years old. He had walked into their room one morning and found a horrific scene which he refused to describe. Gabriel had found him wandering the streets and took him in and he has been working for Gabriel ever since.

They had been talking a while when they heard the entrance doors opening, the turned around to see a man dressed in a black shirt, black pants, black trench coat and no shoes.

He began to approach them when Gabriel stepped in front of him and said, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I have a right, dear brother, to find out what my enemy plans against me are," replied the man.

"You need permission from Him before I can allow you to do that," said Gabriel.

"I got my permission," said the man, "Go ask Him yourself, if you want."

Gabriel looked reluctant, but stepped aside and allowed the man to approach Carl and Akiva.

The man was rather tall and had shoulder-length, black hair. This man invoked a sense of great horror and sadness within Carl and Akiva, his eyes were completely yellow (as if his whole eye was one big, yellow iris) with slits for pupils.

The man went up to the fireplace and turned to face Carl and Akiva, "So these are the warriors that He has sent to fight my forces," he said and spat at their feet, "Pathetic."

"You can't talk to us like that," said Akiva.

"Shut up, maggot," said the man.

"OK," Akiva said and kept quiet

"I just want you two to know, if you screw up my plans, I don't care how powerful His protection is, I will find a way around it and I will kill you, do you understand?"

Carl and Akiva nodded together, "Good, see you around," said the man and he left the building; intentionally bumping into Gabriel on his way out. When Carl and Akiva looked at the fireplace they found the Star of David had fallen on the floor and the crucifix had been inverted.


	4. Who was the Man?

Who was the man?

A.N.: the following chapter contains strong Catholic content.

"Who the heck was that?" Carl asked Akiva.

"I don't know," replied Akiva, "But, I don't mind telling you, that guy scares me."

"I could have sworn even the _bookshelves_ were trembling," said Carl.

"I need to do something," said Akiva.

"Where are you going?" asked Carl.

Akiva just walked out the double-doors of the library without saying a word, "Where's Akiva going?" Carl asked Gabriel who was coming down a flight of stairs.

"To pray," said Gabriel.

"Oh," replied Carl I should do some reading, do you have a Bible?"

"I'm an angel," said Gabriel.

"What does that mean?" asked Carl.

"It's in my office," Gabriel replied.

"Thanks," said Carl and he went into Gabriel's office and found a large and rather ancient book with a cross and 'THE HOLY BIBLE' written on its cover. He opened the bible and scrolled through its pages until he found 'THE NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR: JESUS CHRIST'. In this section he looked for everything he could about Satan (he had a strong feeling that the man clad in black was the Devil), he found in the 'The Gospel according to St. John': "Ye are of _your_ father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.'

If Jesus was right, then what the man (Satan) said about killing them might have been a lie and that gave him some comfort, but did not tell him how to protect himself (and Akiva) from the Devil. He suddenly remembered something and rushed up to his room and rummaged through his trunk to find a small book with: THE ROMAN RITUALS written on its cover, he flipped through it and found the prayer of St. Michael the Archangel against the Devil and an exorcism ritual beneath it. He closed the book and put it in his coat pocket (he always wore a black suit with a blue shirt underneath his coat. As he was leaving the room he saw a scapular and a Holy Rosary on his bedside table and a note with: 'These will help' written across it, "Thanks Gabriel," said Carl and put both the Scapular and the Rosary around his neck and left the room.

With his crucifix, Scapular, Rosary and Star of David around his neck, Carl felt much safer now. When Akiva got back, Carl said, "Feel better?"

"Yes," Akiva replied, "I always feel better after praying."

"I think that guy was Satan," said Carl.

"I knew it," said Akiva.

"We need to work together to defeat him," said Carl.

"Only God can defeat him," said Akiva.

"Yes, I understand," said Carl, "But we need to work together to be protected from him."

"I agree," said Akiva, and they shook hands and Akiva left the building, "Jesus help us," said Carl and he kissed his crucifix.


	5. Errand

Errand

Carl was in his room, saying the Rosary, when there was a knock on the door and Gabriel walked in saying, "We've got a little errand for you."

"Who's 'we'? I all my time here, I've only seen you and Akiva working here," replied Carl.

Gabriel looked at him for a second, and then his eyes moved to the crucifix above Carl's bed, "Why do I ask these questions?" Carl said.

"Anyway," said Gabriel, "Do you know who Maria Altartez is?"

"Only what Akiva has told me," answered Carl, "She makes regular donations and is in our most frequent visitor."

"She was also making investigations into a Satanist cult, led by Alfred van Brode, which was acting suspiciously over the last few months," said Gabriel.

"What do you mean 'suspiciously?" asked Carl.

"Meetings were becoming more frequent, they were recruiting more and more members and several assassination attempts on people close to us," replied Gabriel, "Anyway, Maria has missed four meetings in the last two weeks and we need you to go to this address and find out what happened to her."

Gabriel handed Carl a card with an address scribbled onto it, "Now get going," Gabriel said, and left the room.

Carl pulled on his coat and left the library and walked toward the building, the card told him to go to and all the while he had an eerie feeling that something evil was watching and following him, every step of the way.

He knocked on Maria's door and waited, but no-one replied, he tried again and again, but met with no response, "Ms Altartez," he said, "My name is Carl, I work with the Archangel Gabriel." All of a sudden, he heard a voice say: _Totus iens mortis. _and it seemed to echo in the dimly lit corridor, then the voice came again:

_Is mos adveho._

"Who's there?" Carl called out, grabbing the Crucifix and the Star of David around his neck.

The voice replied: _Deus est non hic, Deus est non hic._

"Who's there?" Carl demanded again.

The voice came one last time: _Vos can non lucor._

Suddenly, Carl became aware of the fact that the voice was coming from inside the apartment room, so he kicked down the door and was met with a horrifying sight; a young lady was tied to the ceiling with her digestive system hanging out of her stomach and her small intestine lying in a heap beneath her, her face was a mask of horror with the number 666 carved onto it. Carl hunched over and threw up…twice. When he lifted up his face, he saw a little boy sitting on the window sill, staring at him; the boy reeked of piss and what scared Carl the most, was the evil, inhuman look in his eyes, "Are you okay?" asked Carl.

"Carl McAdams," said the boy, in a voice that sounded as if it was made of a hundred voices, scrambled together.

"How do you know me?" asked Carl.

"I know everything about you," replied the boy, "You can't stop him. He will slit your throats, you and that piece of shit you hang out with."

"Who are you?" asked Carl.

"My name is Legion," the boy replied, "For we are many."

And the boy threw himself out the window, "NOOO," screamed Carl as he ran to the window sill and saw the boy fall ten stories and hit the ground.


End file.
